You are here

Efficiency for Access Day promotes universal energy access in India

NEW DELHI: The India Energy Access Summit 2016 concluded on Friday, with The Climate Group and Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership (Global LEAP) jointly hosting the Efficiency for Access day, to highlight the role of energy efficiency in achieving universal energy access in India.

Damian Ryan, CEO, The Climate Group, delivered the day’s opening remarks, and emphasized the need for a holistic approach to energy access with energy efficiency playing a central role.

This was followed by a high-level panel discussion with participants including Shri Santosh D. Vaidya, Joint Secretary, India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Dr. Akanksha Chaurey, CEO at IT Power, and Dr Archana Walia, Director at CLASP, and moderator Mr. Anurag Mishra, Senior Clean Energy Specialist, USAID India.

Krishnan Pallassana, India Director, The Climate Group said: “The narrative around Energy Access goes hands in hands with enhancing efficiency of end use technologies. To close the 2016 India Energy Access Summit, The Climate Group wants to underline the key role of adopting energy efficient technologies such as LEDs and other household appliances as a primary enabler to reach universal energy access quickly and effectively.

To maximize the impact of energy access we need to integrate energy efficiency consistently in all future energy access projects and The Climate Group is willing to drive this change in the years to come.”

LEDs and other household appliances are a primary enabler to reach universal energy access quickly and effectively.

Following introductory remarks, the panel highlighted the importance of demand side technologies as an integrating component to energy access, and called for energy efficient technologies such as LED lighting and other appliances to be systematically integrated in the process of rural electrification in India.

Recent estimates suggest that by adopting successful energy efficient technologies, India could reduce its electricity use by 7.3% compared to current levels. This would help to save US$10 billion from reduced electricity bills and would cut CO2 emissions by 170 million tonnes by 2030, equivalent to removing 90 million passenger cars from the roads.

Among energy efficient technologies, LED lighting has been recognized as one of the most straight forward solutions to implement that can reduce carbon emissions and provide large scale savings.

The Indian government recently sent a clear signal by targeting full scale adoption of LED lighting to be completed by the end of 2018. The program, which is reportedly ahead of schedule, is expected to result in US$6 million in energy savings annually and will cut peak power demand by 10,000 MW per day upon completion.

The Efficiency for Access day hosted a series of three workshops and events covering Off Grid LED outdoor lighting and financing, Energy Efficient appliances, and a networking industry event to explore ways to effectively scale up LED lighting solutions and accelerate the adoption of other energy efficiency appliances in India.

Krishnan Pallassana, India Director, The Climate Group, speaking at the Efficiency for Access day of the India Energy Access Summit 2016

“Energy isn’t the point of energy access,” said Matt Jordan, Director of Clean Energy Access, CLASP, an NGO that leads several of Global LEAP’s programs. “The point of energy access is the social and economic benefits of modern energy services. No matter the technology or use case, energy efficiency fundamentally transforms the economics of energy access and enhances the benefits of modern energy services. If the global community is going to take sustainable development seriously, we need to pursue a least cost approach to energy access, and energy efficiency is at the heart of that.”

The events highlighted the opportunity of providing clean and affordable energy and high quality, energy efficient technologies to approximately 240 million people in India who currently lack access to electricity, showcased positive examples of adoption, and discussed key steps required to create an attractive and prosperous environment for private sector financing to invest in the sector.